Rolling head



ROLLING HEAD 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 14, 1965 FIG.

INVENTORS L. DAVIDSON F. KURTZ, JR. MLW /W RALPH EDWARD BY ATTORNEYS g-1967 R. L. DAVIDSON ETAL. 3,334,834

ROLLING HEAD 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 14. 1965 INVENTORS RALPH L.DAVIDSON EPWARD F. KURTZ,JR.

ATTORN EYS 1967 R. L. DAVIDSON ETAL 3,334,834

ROLLING HEAD 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 14, 1965 FIG. 3

IIIIIIIIIIIIm will/l4 F. KURTZ,JR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,334,834 ROLLING HEAD Ralph L. Davidson,Southborough, and Edward F. Kurtz,

Jr., Cambridge, Mass., assignors to Curtis & Marble Machine C0.,Worcester, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Filed May 14, 1965, Ser.No. 455,712 Claims. (Cl. 242-65) This invention relates to the handlingof textile fabrics and other web materials, and constitutes an improvedtake-up device for winding webs into rolls, commonly referred to as arolling head.

In one type of rolling head the roll of fabric is peripherally driven bya drive roller, at a uniform linear speed. A difiiculty is oftenencountered when a surface irregularity develops, as may occur when aseam is driven past the drive roller. If the impact of the seam causesthe roll of fabric to bounce or jump, the resulting forces between theroll and drive roller may create additional irregularities. As a result,the roll frequently develops lobes or an otherwise off-round contourwhich is not only undesirable in itself, but which produces inertialforces that may also cause severe vibration or shaking of the apparatusand the floor on which it is mounted.

The apparatus of the present invention is designed to accommodatespurious forces of this kind by permitting the parts of the machinewhich contact the web roll to yield to its motion, so that the slightimpact which may start an elf-round condition to develop is absorbed inthe mechanism.

In the rolling head of this invention the roll of fabric is wound on atubular shell mounted on an arbor which is free to rise and fall in agenerally vertical direction as the roll grows larger or as anirregularity might displace its axis. The weight of the roll issupported on a drive roller beneath the roll which also frictionallydrives the roll in the winding operation. The drive roll is mounted on aresilient support which permits it to accommodate irregularities, andwhich is preferably damped so as not to reach the state of freeresonance.

The rolling head of this invention will be better understood from thefollowing description of the preferred embodiment, which is presented asillustrative of the invention. Reference is made to the drawings inwhich,

FIG. 1 is a front elevation;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation taken at section 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a condensed plan view taken at section 33 of FIG. 2.

The rolling head is assembled on an open frame 10 of A section andconsists essentially of an arbor 12 on which the web is rolled, mountedto move vertically as the roll enlarges, and a drive roller 14 whichsupports the roll and drives it peripherally at constant linear speed.Translational movement of the arbor is provided for by mounting itbetween end plates 16 carried by parallel racks 18 which are free toslide vertically in slots 19 along the front face of the frame 10. Theracks 18 engage corresponding pinions 20 which are keyed to a shaft 22traversing the front top of the frame between journal boxes 24, and arethereby constrained to move up and down together.

Each of the end plates 16 consists of a pair of downwardly facingparallel yokes 25 bolted to opposite sides of the rack, and an outercheek plate 27 which prevents axial displacement of the arbor. Betweenthe yokes of each end plate are a pair of rollers 28 which engage theends of the top of the arbor and permit it to rotate freely. The arbor12 is accordingly held down by, but not secured to, the end plates ateach end.

The drive roller 14 is supported by bearings 32 on a pair of armspivotally mounted near the back of the ice frame by means of a couplingrod 33 to which each of the arms 30 is pinned. The drive roller 14 isaccordingly free to move about its pivot translationally as both endsare constrained to move essentially together.

Each of the arms carries a double step bracket 34 which provides twobearing surfaces, one of which engages a supporting compression spring36, and the other of which is connected to the shaft of a double actingautomotive shock absorber 38. The lower ends of the spring 36 and theshock absorber 38 are supported on the bed of the frame. These twoelements together provide for resilient movement of the drive rollerwithout the resonance effects characteristic of an undamped system.

Pressure between the roll of fabric on the arbor 12 and the drive roller14 is maintained by an air cylinder 40 and piston 42 connected betweenthe frame 10 and one of the racks 18.

Each of the racks 18 is formed with a fin 41 on its back side which isreceived in the slot 19, and a bracket 43 fastened to one of the fins 41connects it with the piston shaft 42. Air under constant pressure, e.g.,p.s.i.g., is fed from a regulator (not shown) to the piston inlet 44,and assures that a minimum contact pressure exists to drive the roll offabric, particularly when a new roll is just beginning.

The air cylinder is also provided with an inlet at the other side, bywhich 'air may be admitted to raise the racks 18 for dofiing the roll.

The foregoing description covers the main features of the rolling headof this invention. As it is usual to provide that the fabric is full andflat as it enters the roll, a bow expander 45 is mounted in the lowerpart of the frame 10 adjacent to the drive roller 14.

The design of the resilient support for the roll of fabric will ofcourse depend on the nature of the particular device, particularly theweight of the roll and drive roller, the speed of operation, and thefrequency of the motion caused, or tending to be caused, by theirregularities in the roll. In general it is desirable that thefrequency be considerably larger than the natural frequency of thespring suspended system, preferably by a factor of 10 or greater.

Well known analytical mechanics techniques may .be employed in selectingthe supporting springs for any given system, by calculating first thestatic deflection 6 from the equation to )lg cos a a.=

Where:

w/w can be taken as 10 g=acceleration of gravity=386 in./sec. a=angle ofracks 18 from vertical w=frequency of irregular motion The frequency ofirregular motion depends on the amount of surface of the roll spanned byan irregularity, and on the speed at which the roll is driven by thedrive roll. In a typical installation this frequency may be taken as 15cycles per second, from which a is calculated as 4.8 inches. As apractical matter it has been found that 6 may vary from about 0.5 to 5inches.

The spring constant K may then be calculated from the masses of the fullroll M and the drive roller m, from the equation for any desired system.

, Damping of the system is desirable, particularly when the rolling headcan be operated at various speeds and where vibrations at frequenciesnear the natural frequency may be encountered. The shock absorber shouldaccordingly have a damping constant less than e.g., of about 3 0.2 timesthat required for critical damping when the roll is full sized.

It should here be noted that the mass increases as the roll builds up,and that the system is more highly damped at the beginning of the roll.Moreover, even though the mass increases, both the natural frequency ofvibration w =Kg/M+m and the frequency of irregular motion w =NV/R, bothvary inversely asthe radius R of the roll, and the ratio of w to w tendsto be fairly constant.

In operation, the fabric 50 to be wound is led to the back of therolling head, passed over the bow. expander 45, and then fed between thedrive roller 14 and a tubular shell (which will remain with the roll asa core) retained on the arbor 12. A few turns 'are made by hand, andthen, with air pressure applied to the air cylinder 40, the drive rolleris started under power, which may be applied by conventional means (notshown).

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the rolling head ofthis invention accommodates the irregularities encountered in windingoperations, and in particular it eliminates the transmission of verticalvibrations to the' floor on which it is mounted. Thus the major troubleof vibrations that cause a building to shake or the floor to bounce isavoided in the operation of the rolling head of this invention.

In addition it has been found that the improved resilient support systemincorporated in the rolling head of this invention results in thedevelopment of much less of an off-round condition then has heretoforebeen experienced in peripherally driven apparatus. 7

Although this invention has been described with reference to itspreferred embodiments, it is contemplated that modifications willreadily occur to those skilled in the art and familiar with theprinciples herein disclosed, and that such may be made without departingfrom the scope of this invention. 7

We claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Take-up apparatus comprising in combination,

a frame;

an arbor for receiving a roll of fabric mounted for substantiallyvertical motion on said frame;

a roller mounted beneath said arbor for supporting and driving a roll offabric on said arbor; 7

resiliently movable means supporting said roller adapted to yield andaccommodate surface irregularities in said roll; 4

and means rotatingsaid roll and roller. 3

2. Take-up apparatus comprising in combination,

a frame; V a

an arbor for receiving a roll of fabric;

means mounting said arbor on said frame and permitting substantiallyvertical translational motion thereof; a

a roller mounted beneath said arbor for supporting and driving a roll offabric on said arbor;

resiliently movable means supporting said roller adapt- 7 ed to yieldand accommodate surface irregularities in said roll; V V

and means rotating said 1011 and roller.

3.'Take-up apparatus comprising in combination,

a frame;

an arbor for receiving a roll of fabric mounted for substantiallyvertical motion on said frame;

a roller mounted beneath said arbor for supporting and driving a roll offabric on said arbor;

a spring, yieldable under the action of surface irregularities in saidroll, supporting said roller and a damping device operable With saidspring.

4. Take-up means as defined by claim 3, wherein the spring has a 'staticdeflection of about 0.5-5 inches under the weight of a full roll, andthe damping device has a damping constantof about 0.2 times thatrequired for critical damping. V

5. Take-up apparatus comprising in combination,

a frame; 7 r

an arbor for receiving a roll of fabric mounted for substantiallyvertical motion on said frame;

a roller beneath said arbor for supporting a roll ofv an arbor forreceiving a roll of fabric;

means mounting said arbor on said frame and permitting substantiallyvertical translational motion thereof;

a roller beneath said arbor for supporting a roll of fabric on saidarbor;

means mounting said roller on said frame including:

a pair of spaced parallel arms supporting opposite ends of said roller,

the ends of said arms being pivotally attached to said frame andinterconnected to move simultaneously,

a spring and a damping device engaging between said arms and said frame,whereby said roller may yield and accommodate surface irregularities insaid roll;

and means for driving said roll and roller.

7. Take-up apparatus comprising in combination,

a frame;

an arbor for receiving a roll of fabric mounted for substantiallyvertical motion on said frame;

a roller beneath said arbor for supporting a roll of fabric on saidarbor;

means mounting said roller on said frame including:

a pair of spaced parallel arms supporting opposite ends of said roller,

the ends of said arms being pivotally attached t said frame andinterconnected to move simultaneously,

a spring and a damping device engaging between! said arms and saidframe, whereby said roller may yield and accommodate surfaceirregularities in said roll;

means urging said arbor downwardly against said roller,

and means for drivingsaid roller.

8. Take-up apparatus comprising in combination,

a frame having a generally vertical face open at the center;

a pair of acks mounted to slide vertically along opposite sides of saidface; pinions interconnected by a shaft engaging said racks forsimultaneous movement up and down; an arbor for receiving a roll offabric supported by said racks; V

a drive roller having a horizontal axle beneath said arbor forsupporting and driving a roll of fabric on said arbor;

a pair of parallel arms pivoted at one end to opposite sides of saidframe interconnected by a rod;- bearings at the other ends of said armcarrying said drive roller;

and a spring and a damping device, if I V engaging between each of said'arms and said frame to provide resilient support for said drive roll,whereby said drive roller may yield andaccommodate sub faceirregularities in said roll. 7

9. Take-up apparatus comprising in combinatio I a frame; I e r an arborfor receiving a roll of fabric mounted for substantially vertical motionon said frame;

a roller mounted beneath said arbor for supporting a roll of fabric onsaid arbor;

resiliently movable means supporting said roller adapted to yield andaccommodate surface irregularities in said roll; 1

and means rotating said roll and roller.

10. Take-up apparatus comprising in combination,

a frame;

an arbor for receiving a roll of fabric mounted for substantiallyvertical motion on said frame;

a roller mounted beneath said arbor for supporting a roll of fabric onsaid arbor;

a spring, yieldable under the action of surface irregularities in saidroll, supporting said roller and a damping device operable with saidspring.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

W. S. BURDEN, Assistant Examiner.

1. TAKE-UP APPARATUS COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, A FRAME; AN ARBOR FORRECEIVING A ROLL OF FABRIC MOUNTED FOR SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL MOTION ONSAID FRAME; A ROLLER MOUNTED BENEATH SAID ARBOR FOR SUPPORTING ANDDRIVING A ROLL OF FABRIC ON SAID ARBOR; RESILIENTLY MOVABLE MEANSSUPPORTING SAID ROLLER ADAPTED TO YIELD AND ACCOMMODATE SURFACEIRREGULARITIES IN SAID ROLL; AND MEANS ROTATING SAID ROLL AND ROLLER.